District Music Test

Question 1

About how many different covers of “Big Yellow Taxi” have been recorded?

Answer 1

575

Question 2

Who composed Ame no ki (Rain Tree)

Answer 2

Toru Takemitsu

Question 3

Which instrument plays a cadenza before the entrance of the first theme in “On the Trail”?

Answer 3

violin

Question 4

The singer of “Despite Repeated Warnings” was a member of what iconic band?

Answer 4

The Beatles

Question 5

The A section in What a Wonderful World cadences on which scale degree, creating a lack of resolution?

Answer 5

mediant

Question 6

Which BEST describes the text setting technique used on the world “time” in Idioteque.

Answer 6

melismatic

Question 7

Sumer is icumen in is MOST strongly associated with which musical era?

Answer 7

Medieval (c. 1250)

Question 8

Which English poet partially inspired Hermit Thrush at Morn?

Answer 8

John Clare

Question 9

The cellos play grace notes in Global Warming, suggesting what style of folk music?

Answer 9

Irish

Question 10

The excerpt included in the USAD Music Resource Guide from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 comes from which movement?

Answer 10

“Thunderstorm”

Question 11

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) was made under which record label?

Answer 11

Motown

Question 12

Around which year did the equal temperament tuning system become dominant?

Answer 12

1750

Question 13

How many movements does Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony have?

Answer 13

5

Question 14

Musical representations of tempests can be found as early as which era?

Answer 14

Baroque

Question 15

What is the term for the fifth scale degree in a diatonic scale?

Answer 15

dominant

Question 16

Who composed Le quatuor pour la fin du temps (“Quartet for the End of Time”)?

Answer 16

Olivier Messiaen

Question 17

Which is the term that designates a slowing of tempo?

Answer 17

ritardando

Question 18

Which friend of Toru Takemitsu’s was a source of inspiration, especially because of their visit to Hawai’i?

Answer 18

Kenzaburo Oe

Question 19

For which instrument did Michael Daugherty compose his concerto Reflections on the Mississippi?

Answer 19

tuba

Question 20

How did the Cleveland Plain Dealer describe Abels’s Global Warming?

Answer 20

“an irresistible display of orchestral color”

Question 21

Toru Takemitsu is from which country?

Answer 21

Japan

Question 22

For which album did Joni Mitchell win her first Grammay Award for “Best Folk Performance”?

Answer 22

Clouds

Question 23

Who was Michael Abels’s c-author for the opera Omar?

Answer 23

Rhiannon Giddens

Question 24

Stringed instruments are associated with which Sachs/Hornbostel classification?

Answer 24

chordophones

Question 25

In 1968, which song became the biggest hit that Motown Records had ever experienced?

Answer 25

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

Question 26

Which composer surveyed much of the United States in the work American Scene?

Answer 26

William Grant Still

Question 27

What was the band Radiohead initially called?

Answer 27

"On a Friday"

Question 28

What is another name for the bass clef in Western music notation?

Answer 28

F-clef

Question 29

What was Joni Mitchell's christened name?

Answer 29

Roberta Joan Anderson

Question 30

Who gave Paul McCartney valuable listening skills from an early age, encouraging him to hear and sing harmony?

Answer 30

his father

Question 31

How many total songs did the album What's Going On contain?

Answer 31

9

Question 32

What is the lowest male voice?

Answer 32

bass

Question 33

Where did Michael Abels attend college?

Answer 33

University of Southern California

Question 34

Who was Louis Armstrong's mentor in Chicago?

Answer 34

Joe "King" Oliver

Question 35

Which instrument provide an excellent visual aid for understanding pitch and harmony?

Answer 35

piano

Question 36

What era saw the earliest forms of musical notation?

Answer 36

Medieval

Question 37

The earliest Catholic chants had what kind of texture?

Answer 37

monophonic

Question 38

What was the name of Joni Mitchell's publishing company?

Answer 38

Siquomb Publishing

Question 39

Who founded Motown Records?

Answer 39

Berry Gordy, Jr.

Question 40

Which song did Paul McCartney write to express his gratitude to his wife Linda?

Answer 40

"Maybe I'm Amazed"

Question 41

Which of the following BEST explains how Takemitsu's "Ame no ki (Rain Tree)" employs visual elements in the performance?

Answer 41

by employing spotlights to highlight the performers

Question 42

What role did Rimsky-Korsakov take on in the Russian navy that helped him with his music?

Answer 42

Inspector of Naval Bands

Question 43

Which of the following statements BEST explain why the song "What a Wonderful World" was written specifically for Louis Armstrong?

Answer 43

He was seen as a musician who could bring people together during national traumas.

Question 44

According to theorist Brad Osborn, what does the syllable "-teque" in the title "Idioteque" refer to?

Answer 44

discoteque, indicating a dance pice

Question 45

Which polyrhythmic effect is used in Beethoven's "Thunderstorm" to evoke thunder?

Answer 45

a four-note ostinato in the string basses and a five-note ostinato in the cellos

Question 46

In the video of "Feels Like Summer," Beyonce's "R.I.P. Fredo Santana" shirt is significant because it primarily

Answer 46

honors a late rapper who collaborated with Gambino

Question 47

In "On the Trail," which musical technique is used by the violinist to simulate the bray of a burro?

Answer 47

fermata

Question 48

In Toru Takemitsu's "Waterscape" series, what notes comprise the "S-E-A" motif?

Answer 48

E-flat - E - A